wants to transfer or someone else wants to buy the license, if it says on there now live music or no entertainment, and the new person that -- no live music or no entertainment, and the new person that purchases it, they want to modify the conditions. they realize if a petition to modify the conditions, they run the risk of maybe not having the license transfer to them should the modifications be declined. some of these laws on the books a little archaic, and i will give you an example. we now have live entertainment in san francisco, which allows amplified music until 10:00 p.m. if the conditions has no entertainment, and the entertainment, it also includes this limited live provision. we have determined in the city that this legislation is good -- good legislation.

there's no conditional use requirement to have this. a lot of people today want to have food, drink, and be able to have some music. how can we get the limited live entertainment excluded from the know amplified or no live entertainment excluded on the transfers? >> that is going to mostly driven locally. most of the conditions you'll ever see on an abc license are because we rely, to a great extent, on the police department and local officials to determine what is best for their communities. i'm not trying to pin this on you guys or blame you guys, but we do try to work with you. we do not tend to want to overrule the police department very often. now that said, i get a fair number of petitions and appeals to me.

typically, they are from the neighbors. i want to see that there is actually a practical problem posed -- that the condition is there to solve, not that this is the way the things have been or maybe there's someone who is satisfied by what is potentially wrought by having live entertainment. it is always a case by case. generally, very deferential -- i am very deferential to the removal of conditions that do not appear to be solving any problems, and by removing them we are narghile posing any problems that we cannot then thereafter solved. >> director apple smith, thank you for coming. i represent about 30 or 40 entertainment venues in san francisco, new york, and moscow

is. i have a technical question about county transfers. -- and lost vegas. i have a technical question about county transfers. right now, there are very few buildings that you can lease in san francisco anymore. this town has gone nuts in the last five or six months. there are no liquor licenses to purchase. i have strong connections with the liquor licenses on line and some of these people. i am sorry that the top of the list. i have 48 license requests that i cannot fail. i have a two-star michelin restaurant that is moving from downtown out into the mission that the only thing i can do is throw a quick 41 on the place because we can -- because i cannot find a 47 or 848 to do it. i would like you -- or a 48 to do it. i would like to think about some injured county transfers.

-- enter-county transfers. there are a lot of restaurants that have a million dollar construction costs and cannot find a license and are freaking out. licensing has gone to about 128,000 this month. we assume they will surely go to 150,000 and probably more. we need some more liquor licenses. >> to that, in part, i would say that is a structural problem, and largely driven by our statutes. this governor is very pro- expansion of business. and in favor of things that make this city and state great. there is mileage from your local representatives on this. the governor is going to be supportive of whenever you want to do in the city of san francisco.

-- what ever you want to do in the city of san francisco. >> i own a corner bar and i'm basically in the same boat. i am an entrepreneur and i want to open another bar and not got a lease in hand. i'm in danger of losing the lease because i cannot find a license. what i am wondering is, is it possible for that number -- i did not know we were saturated. is it possible for that number to change? can we control the market driven licenses, perhaps? you hear of a license is going for sale in new york or new jersey for half a million dollars. that makes a small-business man like me, that boggles my mind. and it boggles my mind to think i might have to go up to two hundred thousand dollars. what is the likelihood of the supply increasing to meet the demand?

the city is growing. in south beach, there are cranes everywhere. we will need these licenses. how will we get them? >> i can repeat what i just said, but in part, that is something that we need to have pushed from the local. right now, there is a bill applying to napa. i'm sorry, marin county. it is the same sort of problem. part of the argument is -- just like i it was a kid coming in, people come in from all over the area to eat in san francisco restaurants. they come from all over the world. again, this governor is going to support everyone locally. i lot of that will have to come from you to accomplish what is right for the city. how do we do that? >> [unintelligible] >> i blame these guys for conditions.

this time, i will blame fee on the mall and senator leno. -- fiona ma and senator leno. their limited by statute, but that is very difficult to have much room to maneuver. >> you said to organize local bars. i have been trying to do that for a few years now. we have our sixth annual event coming up in september. we have been trying to get toger a long time. i am not a politician in do not care to be a politician. if i cannot raise the issue in that way, the way i have been doing it, personally i get quoted in esquire for what i have done, but i still have no connections. it is still up to me to do that? i am doing everything can. i do not know what else to do

besides try to make a profit in a city that is over-taxing the and running down. [applause] >> i do think that you can do a lot through talking to your city supervisor and working through that process. i am telling you, there are ways that began help you. alcohol is a local issue on this type of matter. what we are behind would you guys want to do, whenever that is. a lot of times we do not always have statutes that make that much sense. it is partly the ways that the laws have evolved and we are the ones who are stuck with enforcing them the way that they are. that does not necessarily mean that we think they are particularly good ideas, but we certainly want people to grow,

prosper, and be saved. that can be achieved in all sorts of ways. we want to work with you on that. thank you. >> i was the founding president of the entertainment commission. i retired and went on to found the culture association, the first trade association statewide for night life, bar, and restaurant activities. i am here with a question that plagues a lot of these license holders, who desire to have their establishment opened for all age dance parties, or 18 and up, and are being handed a restriction in the conditioning process that requires them to sell 50% food and 50% alcohol, in direct contradiction to the underlying statute that defines a bonafide eating place and put an onerous requirement that

cannot be met and makes those business owners immediate felons and creates a situation where our all ages cultural institutions are challenged when ownership changes and there is an opportunity for this new conditioning. for a long time i have been the advocates for either aids license type or the relaxing of the 5050 rule, because i do not think it would stand up in a court of law. i am asking you to direct your staff to look at that. the problem that it purports to solve does not exist and we would ask you to have them removed so that those of us who seek to serve a larger, wider range for each region wider age range can do so without restrictions that makes us immediate crooks. [applause] >> i hope that does not make you a felon. i totally agree with you that that standard is silly.

that is one that we have generally applied, basically, through accounts. on a case by case basis, when those come before me, i have generally not held to that, because it does not make a lot of sense. it very much depends on the establishment. there are certain places where you will never get that, like a fine dining establishment. with you guys, we are just trying to avoid a place that does nothing other than serves alcohol and every once in awhile microwaves a burrito. we have been working to find a better way to go with that. we have a crummy statute, and that is not an excuse, i am just trying to point out the challenges that we have. we really have tried to come up with something where we can have a target for what we're trying to avoid, fraudulent restaurants. >> i love the idea.

>> the willingness to take this challenge on, if it needs to be done legislatively, as he has told me this past week, whenever we need to do, the impetus and strength behind the need for that change to be made is here, present right now. i would embrace your willingness to take a look at it. >> i promise you right now that i will call allison and talk to her about that, if that is an issue they want to take on. you guys are great for that, because that issue has really hit the logical mind. that would be great. >> thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, director smyth. now the fun begins, i get to

introduce the executive director of the entertainment commission, joycelyn came. [applause] look at all of these people here. this as twice as many people as last year. i'm sure it is a violation of the fire code. are there any fireman here? i didn't like them. i know it is hard to squish in. you in the back, i keep my panelists -- could you come up? the next part of this is going to be panel conversation. if you would come up? thank you all for coming, by the way. it is always a challenge. it is like having a party and hoping that people will come.

now i am so proud of myself. what i want to do to practice this conversation, is carol johnson here somewhere? is that they pretty much relate to the breakout groups that we will put you in later. last year i tried a different thing, to apply location, and it did not work at all. we are going back to the way that we did it at all. i am notorious, and bought it -- and will try not to swear up here. obviously, we will be asking you again about your job and what you do daily. i will be asking you to go on to a breakout room. but we want to focus on is what audrey mentioned earlier, the creative content, the

experience. we did not call this a safety summit for a reason. we are now moving on. well, patrons' safety is super important. we will be talking about that in the breakout session for security. in that break out section we will hopefully have -- hello. talking about guard cards, we are running around the city telling people they need one and we want you all to know why. we brought the authority on that, and a few other folks, to talk to you about that. i imagine there will be a lot of uniforms in that one as well. that is the breakout for you. again, we wanted to talk about outdoor events. indoors, outdoors, abc licenses, assignments, stuff like that. there will be three of them.

there will be some refreshments after we're done here, outside in one of the rooms. we will break out. we will not try to come back. lesson learned from last year, when we tried to get everyone to come back to the room, that also sought -- sucked. i hope they will partake in the breakout. they are much more casual. thank you. >> an owner management group, we will be asking the permit officers to come in there as well. >> i have almost everyone. i am going to ask my panelists to introduce themselves. mike, commander, i will start with ranked first. >> good afternoon.

i am the commander of the metro division, the five downtown stations that go basically to the southern, northern, mission, and prior to this new assignment, which i did for the last couple of months, i was the commander of the special crimes and victims in it. i am now the code-liaison to the alcohol licensing unit. my partner is here. charlie, would you introduce yourself? he is my partner. what we do is run the daily operations of the unit. we are also the sounding board for them when it comes to the various type of permits and licenses we may be having difficulties with.

i have my units working with the permit officers at those stations, who are the first line, reporting directly to their captains. i wanted to say that my highest priority is public safety. when we review an application for a new venue, be it entertainment, a bar, or a night club, it is very important that we look at the impact the venue will have on the neighborhood, and the community itself. however, i must also keep in mind and be aware of entrepreneurship and small business owners as the backbone of our city. they had a lot to the culture and flavor of san francisco and we do not want to lose that. we take these factors into consideration.

ultimately be want everyone to have an enjoyable and safe time when they go out after hours to enjoy the city at night. that is my viewpoint. >> i am going to ask you to pass that over. >> good afternoon. i am a member of the san francisco police department alcohol and licensing unit. i have been in this department for 22 years. in the last eight months i have been designed to this particular unit, which is a different skill set for me. not investigating, but reaching out with training and enforcement hearings. we are the main unit that the commander mentioned. the first line would be the permit officers. if there is a permit, someone once transfer, that is where we

talked about the code 47. we disseminate out to the stations. we get input from the station. essentially when they break up to the groups, you can ask them specifically what they look for. generally are concerned and cornerstone is public safety. environmentally when we look at the impact it will have, we look at the culture of service. i will talk about saturation. i agree with many of the questions that were brought up. it is over saturated. those districts and lots need to be updated. what we do is we handle licensing, education, and enforcement. we are liaison to the abc, as well as public health and the entertainment commission. last year we handled 637

licensing investigations, 385 involving premises conditions with no additional actions, 25 denials, and miscellaneous. we also conducted 28 minor decoy operations that involved 416 premises and 16 arrests. we did 20 impact subscriptions to see if they were handling the rules of procedure. for instance, the 47 that mr. allen brought up is something that we will go out and see. are they serving food at the bar or restaurant? generally, the license belongs to abc, however, i agree with the director of apple smith. it goes along with our input. we work really well hand in hand. with most of the speakers today, i feel i have worked very well with them.

very flexible. in that case by case situation, personally i do not agree with the 50/50 rule. a $400 bottle of wine is in excess. we do go out with enforcement. one of the gentleman here that works with the entertainment commission will go out every weekend. myself, i do go out with another officer and an individual from the community to make sure that these rules are applied i welcome all of you who have licenses. it is a case by case situation. we are very open-minded in the police department. we do here with the mayor says, it is a big business. do not be afraid to contact our particular office. i could go in with more modifications, but if you deny one, the whole thing is done for

a whole year. we will work with you on the conditions in the hours, i find the entertainment commission very agreeable, as well as most of lobbyists. i think they will tell you the same thing as well. >> are there pink cards? you can fill them out if you have a question. nicholas will collect them. we will ask those questions of these folks. dmitri, you are up. >> good afternoon. in the executive director of folsom st. events. we are the producers of many

other events. particularly the well-known folsom street fair. there is a lot of work to do. we are actually a non profit. we donate back to charities. our model is different probably the most street fairs. but we do take it very seriously. i am here basicallyé@ to sharea lot of concerns, the issues of others, producers in the city, regulations, increasing fees. hopefully will have time today to talk about breast practices -- best practices. i noticed that in the opening remarks there were comments made around the entertainment

commission in its ability to shut down places that are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. it would be great to explore what we would need for an incentive structure. how can we look at things like reducing as they do what they do in need to do it well. >> i have been a longtime promoter under the name of opal. the earning and community is the opulent temple. i am also a part-time psychologist, working with kids in the bayview, and a father. i was hoping to speak today as a small-business person doing various kinds of events in the

city with similar challenges that illustrate the need for further reform in the city to make the process make more sense while still maintaining public safety. >> hello, folks. my name is jeff, founder of public works. i love good food, music and art, creativity in general. i tried to reflect that in the venue. by booking manager had an opportunity in lake tahoe.

i love san francisco and the diversity here. i find that when you operate a venue and it is diverse and has a variety of things going on, there is a certain openness. when it is open to all the folks in the city, problems of violence and things like that do not tend to come along. thank you. >> thank you. i love my panel. in the producer of the largest fetish event next year. thank you, from the. [laughter] i wanted to start with you, jeffrey. this is a big thing of mine. everyone says that they love good food and music. i love a good cocktail.

obviously, that is part and parcel of the issue that came up around all ages, 21 and over. other than looking great entertainment on the stage, how do you plan to make sure the or patrons have a great experience? aside from what they are seeing, maybe? >> it is artistic. right off the bat, when you enter a club, the first contact point is the door. if there is a hard asset the door giving you a rough time. from the beginning i start with a courtesy force. the bartender's that i have are not the kinds with attitudes, like to ignore some folks and go to others.

on the first level, it is to you're dealing with at the venue. then it gets into the small art gallery of public works. part of the energy of the venue comes from having that art gallery. having a small workshop with a few resident artists who work on art during the day. it provides a certain energy. when that moves on to the employees were working there during the night, coming in contact with patrons, you have a great start and a good experience. great talent, visuals, who have done the other thing for the most part. lots of responses. >> thank you. dmitri, while enhancing your out dope -- outdoor event, how important is the creative contact to make